[Kiraly]

Hello, this will be my first post on this forum but I've been helped in the past by all the posts on here with different cars. Thanks for all your help.

So, short story: 1996 Chevy Silverado, 5.0, cranks but doesnt start.

Symptoms found:
No spark, fuel pump activates properly.
Replaced:
Crank sensor, coil, coil module.


Long story:
My first guess was the crank sensor, so I replaced it. The old one had a gouge in it, like it was scraping on something. Saw some posts about this being fixed by shims and made sure to put shims under it with the new one from autozone. Didn't fix the issue. Removed shims until no shims, still same symptoms.

Found that it does not have spark to the plugs but also no spark coming out of the coil. Found some useful tips in checking the coil and module next to it, I believe it's called the coil module, and checked their plugs with multimeter - everything normal except signal wire, no volts at all. Didn't backprobe since I didn't know how to do that properly at the time.

Then decided to get another coil that we knew works, still didn't start.
Changed the battery out too.

Went back to autozone to change the crank sensor, thinking its faulty, but that didn't help.

Lastly, I read up on how the crank sensor works and pulled out the good obd scanner we have from the depths of the garage to check the RPM of the engine while cranking. Out of 3 engine rpm numbers it shows, 2 are 0 constantly, even when cranking, and the other one jumps back and forth from 0 to 450 rpm even when not cranking. Doesn't this tell me that the computer does not get signal from the crank sensor? So I checked the cable from crank sensor to computer but it looks fine.

And now we're stumped. Please help... thanks.

 

[jaredmatthewqualley9]

I'm having same issues I'm bout to put in ECM I'll let you know the results may be a few days or week it's negative 20 without wind and I'm doing it outside

 

[Kiraly]

Found the issue.

So there is a recall/service going on with these engines about the crankshaft sensor being too close to the reluctor/the gear that it's measuring as it spins, i forgot its name.
The issue for us was that even tho the original one was too close to the gear and got gauged out a bit, apparently it somehow became too far over time. Meaning, if i bent the bracket holding it so that the sensor gets closer into the engine, it can properly sense the signal again.

At first we found this out by just pushing on the crankshaft sensor with my finger while someone cranks the engine. As i did that, it started showing signs of life.
From what i understand tho, you can be too far from the gear but also too close, so don't go too wild with bending the bracket.

In the end, we used the original crank sensor again. The new one would not even sputter when we tried pushing on it. Feels like the new sensor might be too far from the reluctor gear to sense it, but I'm not sure.

Good luck!

 

[Cowboytrukr]

Gotta ask, Bro. There is the most successful volleyball player and coach in US and possibly world history who shares the same name. Any relation?

 

[Kiraly]

Haha no, there isn't. The name is Hungarian and simply means King.